State Unemployment Remains at 9% for February

The Connecticut Department of Labor (CTDOL) released February's unemployment statistics for the state yesterday, showing the jobless rate unchanged at 9%, about .1% above the national average.

Despite the results, Labor Statistics Supervisor Salvatore DiPillo remained upbeat, noting: "While Connecticut’s unemployment rate has remained at, or around nine percent for the past year, other economic indicators have shown improvement in that time. Since the beginning of 2010, initial claims for unemployment insurance are down nine percent; private sector employees, on average are working longer hours; and if these trends hold up, we’ve recovered nearly 25 percent of the jobs we lost during the course of the recession.”

The biggest hirers over the course of the month were professional and business services (3,100 new jobs), the construction sector (2,100 jobs), and educational and health services (1,000 jobs).

According to the report, the manufacturing sector lost 1,100 jobs in February, and information and other services both saw decreases of 200.

The state is estimated to have added a net 5,400 new jobs for the month.

Compared to data from one year ago, Connecticut's labor force was up 500 people from February, 2010, and unemployment was down .2%. The state's total laborers currently numbers 1,896,600.

The latest unemployment data from US Bureau of Labor Statistics differs slightly from that released by the CTDOL, citing CT's unemployment rate at 9.6%, and the national rate at 9.5%.

The full data set from CTDOL is attached to this article as a PDF.